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Would you take fewer vacation days in favor of a 4 day week?
I love having 28 days of vacation in Germany--but I think I might trade a few of them to have a 4 day work week! What would you prefer?
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@aaronoleary Very good point! Let's say that we're expected to maintain our same productivity levels--would that be too much? I'm still convinced that we wouldn't necessarily be less productive...but it would mean we'd need to cut down on time spent in meetings, etc.
@aaronoleary @catherine_norris I think it's always worth putting into perspective. Even if the team is not executing as much work as before in direct comparison, it's worth looking at other side and long term effects.
You're probably less likely to burn out or take sick leave when you're working a day less. When I worked 4 days for a while with Wednesday being the extra day off, I found myself a lot more organised, because I started breaking my work down into 2-day milestones rather than big 5-day chunks. Etc
Very cool question :) I personally also think that a 4 day work week will help to relax and get centered more than just having more vacation. I think there is something very calming and relaxing about the predictability of a shorter work week instead of taking more vacation randomly.
@franziska_kroll Good point! Also gives you more time to get your personal stuff done outside of working hours. However, since I only get to see my family once a year, I love have 5-6 weeks of vacay so I have plenty of time to visit them and also go veg out on the beach on a relaxing trip
@franziska_kroll @catherine_norris Super interesting. However, I wonder what about the trips or summer vacations or Xmas holidays? Those are crutial for me.
@franziska_kroll @olatz_urrutia I think there would have to be a balance, because I also believe it's important to get away from everything and clear your head for a reasonable chunk of time :)
I work at a company that has a four-day work week AND unlimited vacation. I find as a result people tend to take fewer vacations naturally since they don't get burned out as easily and weekends actually offer you time to relax and regenerate.
@tomaswilliamsa That sounds awesome! I'm still not sure how I feel about unlimited vacation; it's kind of a double-edged sword. I feel like it leads to people actually taking LESS vacation time, and then they're not properly compensated for the days they didn't take. But--it depends entirely on the company
@tomaswilliamsa @catherine_norris I think it does 100% depend on the company and the team. I worked at a start-up where we changed to unlimited holidays by the founder but it wasn't exactly encouraged and then we as a team decided not to do a race to the bottom in terms of taking less and agreed we would all support each other in taking holidays and that worked. I think we still averaged the 5 weeks a year approx and maybe the odd day here and there.
@catherine_norris we have a minimum required vacation of four weeks a year that people are required to take. And by law a person is entitled to two so even if someone took none, they'd be compensated for two.
I'd definitely be up for four day weeks and would be more than happy to lose some annual leave days in exchange.
This depends on the salary. Would a 4 day week mean 20% less money?
I worked a 4-day week for ~1 year. It had many benefits. But I think I value longer vacations more.
@john_morrison1 In this scenario, it's for the same pay. I love my long vacations too--but would be cool to have a 4 day week in the summer for example!
I believe four-day work week is better both for employee wellbeing and overall productivity. (1) Long-lasting vacations are not going well for everyone (2) When key personel takes a long break, it affects the ongoing projects in many organizations. Four-day work schedule will reduce long-lasting vacations and make the employee more dedicated in the working hours.
@cagan_yildirim I think a healthy mix of both would be ideal! I think it's healthy to take a long stint off work and completely reset.
That's really hard to answer but what I figured out is that if I take more vacations I don't feel like going to work again, so I like to take 3,4 days' leave.
Love this question Catherine. I've been lucky enough to work a 4 day work-week for quite some time now and truly believe it's the ideal arrangement. It helps prevent burnout throughout the year & results in less sick days being taken, and it just gives me a better overall sense of balance in my life.
Maybe you could use some of your extra vacation days to work a 4 day week over summer at least?
@jade_mack It's a great option! I live abroad though so I like to use my vacation to go see my family. but...as long as I can remote work from anywhere, it could be an option!
I love my work and wouldn't change it for a day off. Each day is an opportunity for growth, so I am taking the grip and cherishing it as it goes. 🙂
@minimalistphone haha wow, good for you! But taking time away can be really important to reset and prevent burnout 🧘♀️
4 day work week anytime !
I recently moved from a full time job (6 days work, 12 hrs working) to 4 day work week (6 hrs working) with 20% pay cut.
Earning back time & ploughing it into projects you love - is totally worth it !
Hard choice but I’m up for four-day. It would lessen the effects of the monday syndrome maybe 🤔 Overall would be a better choice for me to both have my rest&work
If you have 25 days of holiday on a 5-day work week job, that equals 5 full weeks off. I would be OK if I moved to a 4-day work week with 20 days of holiday, as those would still equate to 5 full weeks off.
Four day work week could help accomplish both efficiency and PTO. One of the big insights we uncovered in our customer dev phase was that people with more flexible work schedules (i.e. remote work or shorter work week) are way more efficient.
People are taking more long weekend trips than ever before due to that reason. They fly or drive somewhere on a Thurs, take a couple calls remotely on Friday, then enjoy their weekend away.
Curious to hear if people agree or not with that finding!
As soon as I saw this discussion, I started to discuss this issue with my friends.
I think it's better to have 28 days off. Because when you go on vacation for 28 days, you can completely forget about work and go to your hometown. so you can start again completely refreshed.
According to my friends, working 4 days a week is a much better option. Working 5 days a week reduces productivity considerably by the hour. Also, two days are not enough for people to devote time to themselves completely.
@arda_finsmart I agree with both you and your friends! I wouldn't trade my 28 days for say, 10--that's not enough time to visit family and reset with a proper vacation. But...2 day weekends aren't enough! Especially since in Germany everything is closed on Sunday--meaning everyone only has Saturday to get s*** done!
I'm very team 4-day work week... when work is done, it's done! Some weeks may require 3, 4, or 5 days of work. And some may require 6 or 7... god forbid 😅
"5 days, 9-5" is so arbitrary in my opinion! Work schedules should be flexible, and adaptable to each individual's business/industry.
Seems that regular recovery helps to prevent burnout better than 1-2 vacations a year. So my choice is 4-day work week :)
But I am kind of workaholic and can't imagine this thing))
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